Best Locals' Place

El Gallo

Abraham Kennedy, a Mexican immigrant, opened this South Congress eatery in the 1950s (a resolution from the Texas Legislature honoring Kennedy, drafted sometime in the Eighties and proudly posted in the restaurant, explains the history), and El Gallo just feels old-school, old Austin. Is it the pink-stucco exterior and the "Open Sunday" sign? The purple-and-chartreuse cushions on the iron furniture in the waiting areas? The tiled walls showing 50-plus years of love and wear? The dramatic murals in the windowless party room? Or the little, almost-secret bar area, tucked behind the cash register? Our kids like the paintings on the men's- and women's-room doors and the fish tank in the lobby. Yes, it's all that, plus one other thing: El Gallo attracts local, longtime customers (to its credit: it's not exactly a hipster haven). We'll have the Deluxe Dinner with queso instead of the tamale, please.